SafeHouse Personal Edition is a great tool to keep your data private by creating virtual storage volumes to keep nearly all your files and folders safe and hidden away from prying eyes.

After installation you simply create a virtual storage volume. This is an easy affair consisting of creating a master password (which you need to remember), along with volume specific attributes, such as size etc. The virtual storage volume is then created and saved to a custom location on your computer, and any data held within it is unable to be accessed by anyone who doesn’t have the password.

Key Features include:

• 256-bit Twofish advanced encryption.
• Fully-integrated with Windows Explorer.
• Compatible with Microsoft Office.
• Hides, locks and encrypts all documents, spreadsheets, photos, and video files.
• Unlimited number of private storage vaults as large as 2,000 Gigabytes each.
• System tray icon provides one-click access to all of your protected files.
• Graphical password strength meter.
• Virtual smart-card option.

SafeHouse Personal Edition does have a few good qualities, though, and is ideally suited to those users who are concerned about their data being accessed locally. It is designed for personal use, and has the advantages of being relatively simple to use. If you don't require ultra-strength encryption, or multi-level administration, and you don’t need advanced smart-card support, then this could be something you may want to try out.

Overall, SafeHouse Personal Edition does a good job at encrypting your data using strong methods. However, the lack of a self-extracting file system, a digital shredder and no way to easily send encrypted files to people without them having SafeHouse software installed, makes this particular security app one for an acquired taste.